January 27, 2013

Here it is ! My first skein of yarn, spun from fiber from my blending board. A blend of two colors of Ouessant wool, apricot mohair, red-orange alpaca, and red angelina, this skein is 249 metres & 100 grams.

What do you think ? I think that the blending board does offer some interesting possibilities ... but it will take a bit of playing around with to figure out how to create exactly the type of yarn I'm looking for.

Essentially, Powell introduces us to a “new” fiber tool that is of potential interest to both experienced and new spinners alike. It must be said that it does look quite impressive. And I have to admit that I’m really tempted by the idea of working with this new fiber toy.

That being said, I personally find this little “fiber toy” to be rather pricey. Over $200! And let’s not forget about the cost of shipping to France, which would most likely be between $30 to $40. That’s getting to be a pretty expensive little toy! More than a set of wool combs !

Yet this marvelous little blending board is actually just a bit of carding cloth attached to a simple piece of wood. In other words, one would think that any spinner who is a bit of a DIYer should be able to make her own blending board.

Now it must be said that this Spinning Shepherd is a real DIY girl. So, of course, I just had to have a go at making my own blending board.

To make this project, you will need :

a wooden board that measures approximately 10" x 14" ... for example a nice cutting board

a piece of carding cloth (9.5" x 12")

glue and staples

For the wooden board, I used a lovely bamboo cutting board.
Of course the glue and staples can be purchased in any hardware store.

As much as the board itself, as well as the glue and the staples, are easy enough to find, the same can’t be said about the carding cloth. Additionally, carding cloth is next to impossible to find in France.

Fortunately, we can buy carding cloth from Natural Fiber Yarns on etsy. This carding cloth is 9.5" wide and can be cut and sold in the length that you require. (You need to send a message to Amy to let her know what you’re looking for.) But just be aware that carding cloth isn’t cheap ! You need to count on spending approximately $50 for a 12" piece of carding cloth.

At the same time, keep in mind that carding cloth comes in a number of different TPIs (that’s Tines per Inch!). Generally speaking, most blending boards use either 72 or 54 TPI carding cloth. That said, in so far as I like working with silk, alpaca, Ouessant and other fine fibers, I decided to order 90 TPI carding cloth. We’ll have to see if I made the right choice or not.

I ordered a 12" piece of carding cloth. One week later, my carding cloth arrived in the mail.

On both sides of the length of the carding cloth there is a slight margin of approx 3/8 th of an inch where there are no tines. This margin will prove to be quite useful because after glueing the carding cloth to the board, we will then staple the cloth to the board.

Yet the two cut ends do present a bit of a problem. Essentially, the tines go all the way to the very edge of the carding cloth and don’t leave us any room to staple the two cut edges.

In order to make a little space for stapling, we need to remove two rows of tines from each cut end. This is really easy to do and it only took me about 5 minutes! First, turn over the carding cloth. Then, with a small knife, slip the blade of the knife under a staple which forms two tines. Gently pull out the staple. I think I removed about 100 staples from each end of the carding cloth.

Now that the carding cloth is ready, we need to prepare the wooden board. Essentially, it’s important that the board is clean and preferably newly sanded so that we can be sure that the glue will hold well.

For this project I’ve used a special fabric glue by SADER which is available in France. If you live in the States, Ron from Fancy Kitty has suggested that you "use 3M super 77 spray glue. You can purchase it at any WalMart or Home
Supply store. It spays on, remains tacky, and is compatible with all
carding cloth backing."

Am I ever happy !
I’ve just finished this little DIY project !
I have a beautiful blending board that’s cost me 65 euros and one hour of work.
That’s not bad, is it ?
Please note that I didn’t make a keel for this board as I plan on using it on a table top and not on my lap. That being said, I can always add one later if I think it necessary. We’ll have to see.

Thank you for visiting the Spinning Shepherd!

" Quand on veut un mouton, c'est la preuve qu'on existe. "

Le Petit Prince -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Welcome! Bienvenue!

Hello! My name is Diane and I live in Normandy (France).I'm an avid spinner and knitter, and the proud owner of a small flock of ouessant sheep.Come and join me as I share my hand spun yarns, woolly tales and sheepish musings!